Impacts 2022: Marc Teyssier, Alumni 2015

After his time at MIT, Marc was approached by the largest multinationals, but he chose the research path. "I believed in other paradigms, I was already wondering about the social impact of new technologies and I had a taste for passing on information". He then did his PhD on the importance of physical contact in sharing emotions.

Both inspiring and disturbing, this phone case made of human-like skin creates a strangeness that perfectly illustrates Marc’s thesis subject. Based on the observation that currently, robotic devices cannot reproduce a human-like touch, he incorporated an artificial skin on the phone that enables it to interact with others thanks to sensors.

By reproducing the different layers of the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis in silicone, the designer has managed to recreate the different textures of human skin. Thanks to a touch-sensing technology, the skin will come to life and react to both pinching and tickling.

"I created this prototype to question the place of touch in new technologies". This object, which is not intended to be mass-produced, is the result of a reflection on the Man-Machine relationship and on the limits of technology in reproducing the social link that binds humans together.

This mischievous project is above all an example of "hijacking technology and putting it to the service of research". It aims to question "the absurdity that sometimes exists in this race for new technologies."

While the resources essential to digital technology are running out, Marc argues that this issue is a "fertile ground for reinventing something else, because technology needs to return to a form of sobriety".